Summer Driving Stays on Record-Setting Pace for the Year

Americans continued to drive at a record-setting pace for 2016, traveling 5.2 billion more vehicle miles in July than in June, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. Motorists also drove 5.7 billion, or 2 percent, more vehicle miles in July 2016 than in July 2015, the data shows. Cumulative travel for 2016 is up 3.1 percent, or 56.2 billion vehicle miles, from 2015, on pace for a record well above last year’s nearly 3.1 trillion miles.

The data also showed that while traffic on some rural arterial roads in a few eastern and southern states declined, traffic on U.S. Highways remained well above levels seen for the last two years, reiterating the continued need to find a viable long-term revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund.